The most common process of manufacturing dry food is extrusion, which results in what is commonly called kibbles.
Ownat's exclusive manufacturing process, carried out with the most advanced technology on the market and in our own facilities, follows these steps:
1. Reception of ingredients and quality control to ensure that they are suitable for inclusion in the product.
2. Grinding of the raw materials to reduce and homogenize the size of the particles.
3. Dosing of ingredients, using scales of sufficient precision so that the amounts correspond to the formula of the product being manufactured.
4. Mixing of ingredients until achieving a homogeneous distribution of all the ingredients in the food. A bad mix would cause some parts to contain an excess of some components and others to be deficient.
5. Extrusion or combination of heat (cooking) and pressure (worm screw), in order to improve the product's ease of digestion and safety/stability. Cooking the ingredient mixture begins in the conditioner, by adding hot water or steam. At this point, fresh meat or fish is also added, which allows cooking in the juices of these fresh ingredients, making the flavour of the food irresistible. Next, the mixture passes into a conduit and is pushed by a worm screw towards the outlet with a narrower section, generating pressure and increasing the temperature of the mixture. When leaving the extruder there is a fall in pressure and the product expands into a matrix. The profile determines the shape of the kibble.
6. Drying the kibbles. On leaving the extruder, the kibbles are moist and soft from recent cooking so they must be dried to reduce the moisture content below 12% and increase their hardness.
7. Battering and cooling the kibbles, applying a coating that improves their flavour and appearance.
8. Packaging. To ensure they keep well, the kibbles must be dry and cold when they are packaged.
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Samples are taken and analysed throughout the manufacturing process to ensure that Ownat's demanding quality parameters are met. They exceed those set by current regulations.
